The Yamani Knight Trilogy, Part 2: Spy
by Sea-Aggie
Summary: This is the second segment in The Yamani Knight Trilogy. It continues the story of Kel and Henrik. It is recommended that you read The Yamani Knight Trilogy, Part 1: Assassin before reading this, though inside is a complete summary of the first segment.
1. Summary of Assassin

I'm BACK!! Sorry that it's taken so long for me to post this story. I've had an extremely busy summer and I've been deeply immersed in working on an original story that I've been writing. Anyways, I've had this part written for a while, but haven't posted it yet since it's only a summary of the first story. Tonight I went back and read all of my wonderful reviews from the previous part of the story to get me back into the mood. So I am currently at work on chapter 1. As soon as it's finished I'll post it.

"You can't stay" were the words that echoed through Kel's head. She had just left Lord Wyldon's office after he had promptly told her that she couldn't stay. "You will regret not letting me stay," was all that she had to say to the man. After informing her friends of his decision she moved into her parents' house in Corus. There she had an emotional breakdown. She became so intent in proving Lord Wyldon wrong she spent all day and all night practicing with her weapons until her parents put a stop to it. She soon left for The Yamani Islands with only Peachblossom, who had been given to her as a gift from her secret well wisher. There she was offered the chance to become a Yamani knight - the most feared knights in the world. Not only were they the Emperor's knights they were also his assassins and spies. They were trained in every type of weapon known to man. They were also taught how to sneak about, write in code, disguise themselves and do many other things important to their jobs. The multiple jobs of the knights was not a well-known fact. It was a well-kept secret and if it found its way into the wrong hands it could be used against the Emperor. Another thing that made them different from other types of knights was that their training could progress as slowly or as quickly as they wished. Kel used this to her advantage becoming a knight quicker than most.

After a couple of years as a page, she was sent in search of her True Name. She found it when she rescued another page in search of his True Name, who also happened to be a favorite nephew to the Emperor, which is why he was kidnapped. They were announced as squires together for the first time. He was The Horse. She The Kraken. They ran into trouble with one of their fellow squires, a boy, whose name was The Ironfist, and his friends. They soon solved the problem by tying him into his bed, making it practically impossible to escape. They were sent on one of their first assassination missions together. Their target - a man whom the Emperor suspected of being a spy. He ended up being one of George's spies and his last trustworthy spy in The Yamani Islands. His death meant that Tortall received no inside information from The Yamani Islands, but most importantly no information of Kel. After about a year Kel and Henrik (The Horse) were knighted and given an indefinite mission. The mission - Protect the princess in Tortall. Bring her home if it becomes too dangerous or I order you to. But most importantly - Be my Spy.

So after becoming engaged to one another and passing their Ordeals, Kel and Henrik packed all of their belongings to leave for Tortall. There was a decent sized party that accompanied them, but after the marriage, only the princess, Shinko, who ended up being an old childhood friend of Kel's, Yuki, another of Kel's childhood friends, and Hamane, Shinko's other lady-in-waiting, would stay in Tortall. Deciding not to let anyone know of her true identity yet, Kel disguised herself as a Yamani man and dyed Peachblossom's coat. Once she arrived she became reunited with her friends (though they didn't know that it was her) and made new ones. Lord Wyldon even asked Kel to teach the pages and squires with swords. She became a greatly loved figure. Then came the day that she revealed her true identity.

It was at a tournament. She was going to joust against Lord Wyldon. Kel had removed her disguise and hid beneath her padded armor. She and Lord Wyldon waited at opposite ends of the field waiting for the signal. It came. They charge. Both lances shattered. This happened one more time. Finally they lined up for their last run. Their horses ran towards one another and the crowd held its breathe as Kel sent Lord Wyldon flying. She trotted Peachblossom over to her former master. When she arrived she pulled off her helmet and uttered, "I told you that you would regret sending me home."

Her true identity stirred up everyone. She soon came head to head with Joren. She beat him and caused him to become mad. Deciding to get revenge he went and killed her fiancé, Henrik, in his sleep. This caused Kel to hide behind a mask and take her job even more seriously. The opposite of what Joren wished for. Once she discovered who was responsible for his death she sought permission from the Emperor to kill Joren. When it came she slit his throat and carved an intricate throwing star upon his bare chest - her sign as an assassin known as The Star. It turns out that it was actually Henrik's evil twin brother, Jenrish, that was killed and Tusaine held Henrik captive. Henrik was able to escape and make his way home. Deciding that it was a little too dangerous on the road for the moment the party returned to the palace until the problems with Tusaine could be resolved. And that is where we left our heroes.


	2. Tusaine or Bust!

**Note: Before we begin the story I want to take care of the age issue. When Kel killed Joren she was fifteen and Henrik was sixteen. They were married when she was twenty-one and he was twenty-two. In order to cut back on confusion if I go back or forward in time I'll state their ages. Also when I'm going back in time it is in relation to when the letter was received by Kel's mother.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Tamora Pierce. I'm not Tamora Pierce. I'm not Tamora Pierce. I'm not Tamora Pierce. I'm not Tamora Pierce. I'm not Tamora Pierce…Since we all know how much I hate disclaimers, this will be the only one I write during the whole story and it applies for the whole thing. **

* * *

"Your Majesty!" Ilane exclaimed as she burst into his chambers, "I just received a letter from Kel. She has evidence. The time has come."

Ilane handed the letter over to the Emperor as she bowed in the proper fashion. He took it skimming through the pages until he came to the end and the chosen phrase. _I can't wait for your next visit. I have great news for you that is not proper to write about in a letter. _Tears silently slid down the Emperor's cheeks. Kel had finally found the proof necessary to declare war on Tusaine and revenge what they had done to his nephew, Jenrish. He let his thoughts go back to before Jenrish had been kidnapped. He had always been a violent boy, but his violence would have been dealt with and possibly even used for the good of the country if he had not been taken from their hands. It had hurt his sister so much when Jenrish had been taken that she became a ghost. Her husband was soon killed in a fight and it was after that terrible event that her health plummeted so much that she became dreadfully sick and died. He was left with her other son Henrik to raise as his own. They shared many similar interests and when he expressed his wishes to become a knight he granted them.

* * *

_Four Years Earlier… (Kel is 17. Henrik is 18)_

Kel let out a sound of frustration and banged her head on the table.

"What's wrong Kel?" Henrik asked with concern.

"Michael wasn't able to make it into the school. He's the fifth person we've tried to get into there. I don't care what anyone says, but I have to get in there. It's the only way that we are going to find out anything. Now all I need is an excuse to leave the palace for a while."

"Are you sure there isn't any other way?"

"There isn't any other possible way. It would be so much easier if we knew whether or not they have found out about your brother's death. If they didn't then we could just send you in and get the information a lot quicker, but of course we can't even figure that out so I'll have to waste a lot of time earning everyone's trust and learning the system."

"Well if that's the case then you can say you're going to go on a pilgrimage and no one will question it."

"Good idea. I leave within the week."

* * *

_Later that week…_

"Do you have to leave?" Neal questioned.

"Yes, Neal," replied Kel.

"Are you sure there isn't any other way to figure out what this vision is?"

"Neal. As I told you before, it's Yamani custom when you have a dream like I did to go on a pilgrimage and figure out the meaning."

"But you're Tortallan. You were born here and…" he was cut of by the stern look she gave him.

"Yes, but I'm also Yamani. I did become a Yamani knight after all. Tortall made it quite clear that they didn't want me."

"I thought you got over that."

"I did Neal, but it still doesn't change the fact."

"You better get going my love," Henrik said as he led Sakuyo out of the stables. They had decided that it would better if Kel showed up with a smaller horse, rather than a warhorse. Thus Peachblossom would remain in Daine's care while Kel was away. Daine was the only one who could control the large and very temperamental horse besides Kel. Kel swung here leg up and over Sakuyo's back.

"Promise me you'll be back for my ordeal," Neal pleaded.

"That's over a year and a half away, Neal. I'm sure I'll be back in time for it," she said with a laugh.

"Sure. Last time you left it was several years before I saw you again," he sarcastically replied, which only brought more laughter from Kel as she sent Sakuyo into a gallop.

"I promise I'll return as soon as I can Neal," she called out, before disappearing through the gates.

"Come on Neal," Henrik said leading the worried man back into the palace, "Alanna's going to be mad if you're not ready to leave by lunch.

"I've been ready since I was up, she's the slow one. But don't tell her I ever said that."

"I won't Neal. I won't."

* * *

As soon as Kel was out of sight of Corus she changed her direction from south to east and towards Tusaine. She soon came to a selected grove of trees where she had hidden her assassin tools. She changed into a black shirt and breeches. She wore light boots that had places in which she could hide knives and they had sharp pieces of metal on them that could be used to cut rope. The metal had been disguised to look like it was an ordinary part of the boot so no one would know its purpose. She removed the saddlebags, saddle, and bridle from Sakuyo and replaced them with ones that were all black. Lastly she tucked a letter into her shirt. It was a letter of invitation for The Star to join the Tusaine assassins and become a teacher at their school. After making sure to hide her knight gear where Henrik would find it and double-checking for the letter, she spurred Sakuyo into a gallop and headed towards Tusaine.

* * *

**Note: Not much of a chapter, but it will get better. I promise. The faster you review the faster that the next chapter is completed and the sooner I update. So, review!!**


	3. The Viper

Several days later Kel crossed the northern part of the border between Tortall and Tusaine. Two days after she crossed the border Kel was in Collensburg, passing through alleys, looking for the tavern mentioned in the missive. She finally found it in hidden deep in a back alley. Water dripped from the roof, splashing into a large puddle of strange colored liquid. After tying Sakuyo far enough away from the puddle to keep the horse from tempting fate, Kel entered the tavern, pushing back the dirty cloth, which hung from the doorframe as a makeshift door. She came into a dark, smoky room. Following the missive's directions she sat at the table farthest from the door. She sat there silently watching the bartender polish the ale mugs with a rather overused rag. He was a short and stout fellow with a scraggly beard that needed to be trimmed and combed. His apron was covered in filth, causing it to take on an odd yellow-brown color. He casually raised his eyes to look at her. When Kel continued to look at him, he raised an eyebrow in question and she slightly nodded her head, turning to look at the fireplace. The large fireplace held a small blazing fire, which provided most off the light in the room. As Kel sat there waiting for the bartender to send a barmaid her way, she flicked the many crumbs on the table with her short fingernails.

"Can I help ya?" asked a tall woman with a thick accent. She had the pale skin tone that most Tusainians had. She let her unruly red hair tumble over her shoulders. Her green eyes twinkled. She wore a very gaudy blouse that allowed a fair amount of her bosoms to show.

"I'd like ye house special with an extra splatterin' of mashed patatas and a tall mug of ye frothiest ale," Kel replied in the common language used by all of the countries.

"I'll be right back with it love," the barmaid said with a wink.

Kel watched as she disappeared into a back room to inform the Tusaine assassins that The Star had arrived.

* * *

"What is it Brandi?" demanded a man with hateful eyes and a long face.

"I just came to tell ye The Star's 'ere, but I can leave if ya want," she responded sarcastically.

"No. No. Brandi. I'm sorry it's just been a very long day. Did he give you the phrase?"

"Just like ye said, right down to the extra splatterin' of mashed patatas."

"Good job Brandi. What did he look like?"

"Tall. Olive complexion. Black hair. Typical Yamani."

"Thank you Brandi. Now would you mind going and getting him?"

With a roll of her eyes she left the room to retrieve her master's new toy.

"Finally. Thank Mithros, he's finally here," the man finished to himself.

* * *

Kel scanned herself making sure that her Yamani disguise was in place. She knew they were expecting a male Yamani and not a female Tortallan, so she had resorted back to the disguise she had first worn when she returned to Tortall. The barmaid soon came back and led her into a back room where a man who looked like a horse greeted Kel. He had a long face. His eyes were large and buggy and he had a very large nose with extremely large nostrils. When he opened his mouth it seemed as if he could finish he dinner in one bite. He had let his hair grow out and kept it pulled back in a ponytail. _Scanran, _thought Kel, _definitely Scanran. _

"I'm glad that you were finally able to join us…." He said waiting for a name.

"Earo," she replied adding a slight glare when his face showed he wished for more.

"If you don't mind, Earo, I would like to keep the whole thing on a first name basis. I am Tezcacoatl, but you can call me Tez. My call name is The Viper," he said with such overconfidence and pride that Kel was barely able to keep herself from rolling her eyes, "I'm sure that you wish to get down to business. Here's the deal. You come and work for us. Teach at the school, maybe a few hits, but the ones you take are up to you. We'll pay you much better than the pitiful amount that you receive from The Yamani Islands. 5,000 crowns a year. Plus whatever the head price is for whatever hits you do. You also will receive money for the hits your students do. So train them well and you'll have more money than you'll know what to do with. You will also be given very comfortable living arrangements at the school."

"And all you expect of me is to train your students."

"Exactly. We've learned that better assassins are produced when someone who's made a name trains them. Seeing that you made yourself quite a name when you removed the Tortallan boy several years ago, we've been trying to get you to ever since. So is it a deal?" he asked offering a hand.

"It's a deal," Kel said taking his hand and shaking it.

"Well then, we better get going."

* * *

Tez led Kel out a back door and into a stable. There Kel found Sakuyo. When she mounted her horse she found evidence that her saddlebags had been searched through. The perpetrator had forgotten to remember to push in the two metal rivets that popped out whenever the bags were opened. Knowing that this would have probably happened, Kel had removed anything of value and hidden them on her person as well as concealed several items in Sakuyo's saddle. The Emperor had designed saddles for all of his knights. In each saddle were several compartments in which they could hide things. It was a very useful tool and Kel was glad for it. Before mounting his steed, Tez glanced out of the stable door. Finding the route clear, he swung up on his horse and silently led Kel down the back alley. They soon came to a dead end. Tez dismounted and handed Kel his horse's reins. Going over to the wall he quietly knocked out a tune. Several knocks came from the other side of the wall. Tez replied one last time before remounting. The wall soon opened to reveal a passage that led underground. The tunnel was lit by several torches, which hung on the wall. As soon as Kel crossed over the threshold a young boy of about ten closed the door.

With a nod of thanks to the boy Tez began his way down the tunnel with Kel close behind. They soon came to a fork and Tez chose the path leading to the right. They traveled through the tunnel for several hours before they entered a large room. The room contained several beds and a stable. There was also a jail cell. Tez removed his horse's saddle and put the animal into one of the stalls after a quick brush down. Following his example, Kel did the same and placed her saddlebags on one of the beds. After giving Sakuyo fresh water from a well, fresh hay, and a carefully measured portion of oats, she returned to the main part of the room. She found Tez starting a fire in a large stove, whose pipe left through a hole in the ceiling. The smell of cooking meat soon began to waft through the room, causing Kel's mouth to water. Tez sat a plate in front of Kel. While he left the room to retrieve a pitcher of water Kel used a charm to check the meal for poison. Finding none she began to eat. As soon as they finished eating, Kel washed the dishes before going to a bed, where she lay down and fell asleep with one eye open for danger and her knives within easy reach.

* * *

**So what did you all think? Review and let me know. Hope you all enjoy the new chapter lengths. I'm going to try and shoot for about a thousand words per chapter. This one's 1,320 without this note! One more thing I will give each person who reviews a sneek peek at the next chapter! I got the idea from Kate of Carlay, hope you don't mind!**


	4. Threats!

Tez soon woke Kel so he could get some sleep. Kel sat at the table scanning the tunnel entrances. Hearing a noise, she suddenly jumped out of the chair, pulling her knives from the sheaths attached to her wrists. She turned around searching for where the noise came from. Once again she heard the noise. This time she was able to pinpoint the source of the sound. It was Tez. Kel became inflamed. Didn't this man know anything? Luckily, they weren't somewhere where they would have an army of knights breathing down their neck if they heard him. She stormed over to the man, roughly shaking him awake. Surprised he fell out of the bed and onto the floor twisted in the blankets.

"What?" he angrily whispered at Kel when he realized she was the reason why experienced this late night startle.

"You're snoring. That's what!" she retorted, glowering at him to excuse his snoring.

With a humph, he untangled himself from the blankets and turned his back to Kel when he returned to his bed. Not five minutes later he began the dangerous habit once more. This time Kel threw a pillow at him, which made a soft thump sound when it made contact. Tez just turned in the bed and gave Kel a glare once more before returning to his slumber. Over an hour had passed causing Kel to hope that he had stopped, when he began again.

Kel took a deep breathe before returning to his bedside. She pulled his blanket off of him and ripped two stripes off of it. Then she stuffed one strip into his mouth before tying the other one around his head. When he turned his head to glare at her, she said, "You can't snore if you don't breathe through your mouth. Learn to breathe through your nose. The gagging prevents you being able to breathe through your mouth. It's a technique we use in the Islands. You'll have cottonmouth in the morning, but you won't be in enemy hands because of your snoring. Oh and don't try taking it off or I'll bind your hands," she threatened as he moved his hands to his head.

Glaring at Kel one last time he turned in bed and fell into a fitful sleep only to be waken what seemed like seconds later by Kel, who handed him a plate of food. After he finished eating they saddled their horses and reentered the tunnel into the never-ending darkness and silence.

* * *

"Are you Sir Henrik?" asked a young boy.

"I am."

"Then I have a message for you," he said handing Henrik a sealed note, before taking off and disappearing around the corner.

Henrik carefully removed the seal wondering who had sent him a message. It was too early to expect one from Kel and a royal messenger always delivered the Emperor's messages. Henrik about choked when he read what it said:

_Dear Henrik,_

_We know that the death of your brother is due to your betrothed. We also know that she has left the palace to go on a pilgrimage. We don't know where she has gone on this pilgrimage, but know this we will find her. And when we do we will tear her apart. After we are done tearing her apart we will force her to join us. If she refuses we will torture her in ways you can't imagine. We will torture her until she wishes that she was dead, but she'll be unable to die. We have perfected the ability to bring people extremely close to death without actually ever killing them. As soon as she agrees we will train her in the art of assassination._

_Sincerely,_

_The Stormwing_

_Head of the Tusaine Assassins_

_P.S. As for her first hit we were thinking you, but maybe we'll have her kill the Emperor first and everyone else you're close to before she finally closes in on you. _

Henrik stood there for several seconds before a terrible thought entered his mind, _Tusaine is out to get Kel and she has just walked into their grasp. The only thing protecting her is that they think she is a he!_

Henrik ran at full speed in search of the king. He hoped that George and Alanna hadn't left yet, for they were sure to become involved.

* * *

"You wanted to see us?" Jon asked when he had finally gathered with Myles, Alanna, George, Gary, Raoul, Roald, and Shinko. Neal was there as well in case something was needed. Without saying anything he handed Jon the message. Everyone watched as Jon scanned the message and passed it to George with a grim look on his face. Taking a deep breath George read the message aloud, leaving everyone speechless. Shinko exchanged looks with Henrik since she knew Kel's true mission.

"I knew she shouldn't have gone on this stupid pilgrimage!" Neal finally cried out in frustration, "But does anyone ever listen to Neal the overaged squire? No!"

"Neal!" reprimanded Alanna, "What has gotten into you?"

"I'm sorry its just that she always disappears and then gets into some kind of trouble."

"Well, Henrik, do you have any ideas?" Jon asked.

"There's something I have to tell you."

"Yes?" encouraged Jon.

"Kel didn't go on a pilgrimage."

"She didn't?" exclaimed Neal.

"Then were did she go?" asked George.

"I can't tell you that."

"And why not?" Alanna questioned.

"Because I'd have to reveal some very closely kept secrets of The Yamani Islands and I'm not under authority to do so."

"Oh," Alanna replied.

"What do you expect us to do, Henrik? If you don't tell us we can't help you," Gary said.

"I just wanted to let you know. Kel should be fine. She should be perfectly safe where she's at," Henrik said before leaving.

Everyone exchanged confused looks, with the exception of Shinko who slipped out to comfort Henrik.

* * *

_Later that night…_

Neal quietly slipped out of his rooms and went to the palace stables. Alanna and her family had ended up staying until the next day because of the disturbing note. Neal had just finished covering his mount's hooves with rags when a voice whispered, "You're going to go find her, aren't you?"

A startled Neal turned around to find a young girl of thirteen, "Aly! You frightened me. What are you doing out here?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"What question?"

"I asked if you were going to go and find Kel."

"Yes, I'm going to find…Wait. How did you know about that?"

"I heard Henrik was trying to get an audience so I snuck in there before everyone gathered," she said as if it was common knowledge.

"You need to stop doing that. You're going to get into trouble one of these days," Neal said in reprimand.

"Can I come?"

"No. Your mother would kill me and after she was done then your father would followed by several other people."

"I'll tell."

"You wouldn't dare…. You would. You leave no room for bargaining, do you? All right, get your mount, but be quiet about it. And if you cause any trouble Mithros help us."

**Now review and let me know what you think, if you dare!**


	5. Kidnapped!

"Alanna?" George whispered gently shaking his bride awake.

"What George?" she growled.

"You need to get up if we are to return to the Swoop today."

"Fine. I'll go wake up that overaged squire of mine. Make sure Aly's ready to go. I'll have Neal prepare the horses while we say goodbye to Alan," she ordered as she changed into her uniform.

Both headed their separate ways only to return moments later with notes in their hands.

"George! That overaged good for nothing squire of mine, took off last night trying to be a hero!" Alanna said with rage.

"I know," he sadly replied.

"Wait. How do you know?" she questioned with suspicion.

"Because Aly's gone with him," he responded handing her the piece of paper.

Alanna took it and read what it said:

_Dear Mum and Da,_

_I've gone with Neal in search of Kel. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine._

_With love,_

_Aly_

_P.S. Don't worry about Neal; I'll make sure he stays out of trouble._

Alanna quickly compared it to Neal's:

_Dear Sir Alanna,_

_I have decided that someone must go and find Kel. Since no one else seems to care about her, I have taken it upon myself to do this deed. I will return as soon as I can with Kel. I promise to stay safe and out of trouble. Do not worry about me I am able to take good care of myself since I learned from the best. Please don't tell my parents, and most certainly not Dom._

_Your squire,_

_Neal_

"Neal obviously didn't know that Aly was going with him when he wrote this. She must have tricked him into letting her go. That girl is too smart for her own good. I guess we better go and tell Jon before we go searching for them. And as soon as we find them, I am going to skin that boy alive," Alanna growled between clenched teeth.

* * *

"Neal, why are going south?" pestered Aly.

"Because that's the direction Kel went on her 'pilgrimage'," he responded.

"But Neal, she turned east," she protested.

"How do you know that? There are too many prints, so we can't distinguish Sakuyo's prints from the other horses."

"I have the Sight. Remember? I've been using it to track Sakuyo's essence."

"Oh. Well I guess it's a good thing that you came with me, then."

With a roll of her eyes, Aly turned her horse and headed east, towards Kel, Tusaine, and danger.

* * *

After another tiring day of traveling through the darkness and not speaking to one another, Kel and Tez finally emerged from the tunnel as the sun was setting. In front of them were several buildings in a clearing. Tez led her to a stable, where a young boy took their horses. After ordering the boy to care for the horses and then take the saddlebags to the proper rooms, he led Kel into one of the buildings and into a large room where he asked her to wait. While she was waiting, Kel examined the room. In the center sat a large oak table. Around it sat twelve high back chairs. The walls were painted a deep jade color. The only exit was the door through which Kel had entered the room. She chose a chair near the door and angled it so she could observe the door and everyone in the room at the same time. Tez soon returned with several people in tow.

"May I introduce you to Earo, call name The Star," he said gesturing towards Kel.

Kel could feel everyone's stare, as they sized her up. She gave them a slight nod in greeting. Tez took a seat at one end of the table while everyone else filled in the remaining chairs, leaving two seats empty, one of them at the other end of the table.

"As you know I am Tezcacoatl, call name The Viper. I will let my colleagues introduce themselves," he said gesturing to the woman seated on his right.

"I am Carly, call name The Tempest," stated a thin woman with bright red hair pulled back into a neat bun. Her green eyes glared at Tez in clear distaste of the man. She clearly was Tusainian by blood.

"Guano, The Silent," a large raka man said in a barely audible voice.

"Marcy, call name The Enchanter," said a short woman with blue eyes, so deep and blue that they were able to enchant any man into doing as she wished.

"Pippin, The Tiger," spoke a woman with a thick Gallan accent.

"Roger, The Damned," said a dwarf-sized man very gruffly.

"Trevor, The Mysterious," informed a man with a voice of mystery.

"Max, The Dagger," sneered a man with eyes that pierced through Kel.

"Lillian, The Piercer," a young woman said with pride.

"Now that's finished we can be…." began Tez.

"Tez! What's going on? Why wasn't I called to this meeting?" asked a tall, brawny man who had just walked through the door, followed by a short and skinny fellow.

"Well…I…um...you see," Tez said struggling to find an excuse.

"Stop making a fool of yourself and get out of my seat!" he ordered before he noticed Kel, "I see we have a guest. And you are?"

"The Star, but you may call me Earo," she replied keeping a steady gaze on the man.

"I'm glad that you finally decided to join us. I am Fernando, The Stormwing, commander of the school and this," he said motioning to the skinny fellow, who now sat at the other end of the table, "is Marcus, The Jester, and my second in command. My word is law as is his in my absence. Now that we have completed our little get together, Marcus will show you your quarters and introduce you to your new students, we just got a new brace of brats in and they're all yours."

* * *

After showing Kel her quarters and giving her a quick tour of the school grounds, Marcus escorted Kel to a small building far away from the rest of the school.

"This is where we keep all of the shipments we receive until they are assigned to an assassin. We just received a shipment of two children from Tortall. A brother and sister. The boy's eleven and the girl is nine. I'll make sure rooms are set up for them," saying that he left Kel alone to open the small door, which opened into a small, dark, damp room.

Once Kel's eyes became accustomed to the darkness, Kel noticed two small bodies curled up in the far corner. A pair of glowing eyes which, belonged to the larger of the two bodies, stared at Kel with mistrust. With a nudge from the larger body the smaller one opened its eyes. Sadness filled Kel as she saw fear in the children's eyes.

Kneeling down, she put a friendly smile on before comforting them, "Come on," she said, "I won't hurt you."

The two children uncurled their bodies and suspiciously stepped towards Kel and into the sunlight. The larger of the two children was a young boy and looked very familiar to Kel for some reason. She looked at the girl and it was then when she realized why they look so familiar. Eyes that blue could only belong to one family.

"It can't be," Kel gasped, "are you related to…"

* * *

"Dom!" exclaimed Alanna as he burst into the room where she and several others were huddled over maps, trying to decide on which route Neal and Aly had taken, "I guess you heard about Neal."

"Yes, I … Wait! What happened to Neal?"

"He left last night with Aly to go and find Kel. If you didn't know that then why are you here?"

"It's Curtis and Sara. They've been kidnapped!"

"What? When? How?" questioned Thayet.

"Several days ago, they were taken from Lints, where they were visiting my sister. They had gone out playing in the woods, they didn't return for dinner and the search party found a scene of struggle. Luckily, there was no blood. The messenger just arrived and gave me the news."

"I'm sorry Dom," Raoul said sympathetically, knowing how much Dom's niece and nephew meant to him, "Is Nathan still in Carthak?"

"You wanted to see me?" questioned Henrik, who had just entered the room.

"Yes, Henrik we did," replied George, "We need to know were Kel is."

"I already told you, I can't," he protested.

"Henrik. Neal and Aly snuck out last night to go searching for her. We need to know where she went so we can find them. If we don't… who knows what will happen. On top of that Dom's niece and nephew were kidnapped. Please Henrik," Alanna said in a voice more demanding than anything.

"Tusaine," he said finally giving in, "She went to Tusaine."

"What!" erupted Alanna, "I thought they were the ones trying to get revenge."

"They are," he simply replied.

"Would you mind explaining this to us?" questioned George.

"I'm afraid I can't. You asked where she went. I told you so you can find Neal and Aly. I only ask that you return after you find them and do not pursue Kel for it could mean grave danger for her," he stated.

"All right Henrik. We trust you, but you'll have to explain this to us someday," Jon said putting a hand on Henrik's shoulder.

"Only if the Emperor says I may," he replied before leaving the room.

**Thanks for reading! Now let me know who you are and review! Remember that those who review get a juicy tidbit from the next chapter!**


	6. Many Beginings

"Dom's our uncle," the boy replied with askance, "How did you know him?"

"We're friends, Neal introduced us," she said glancing over both shoulders.

"Yes, good old Meathead, but how does he know an assassin?"

"You must promise to never tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

"Why should we promise you that?"

"Because, I can help you get out of here. What I'm about to tell you is a very closely kept secret and to explain all of this I need to tell it."

"Fine, we promise," he said.

"What about your sister?"

"Sara," he said pulling her out of her trance.

"Yes Curt?"

"Give the gentleman your promise."

"I promise."

"First things first, I'm not a man."

"What?" exclaimed Curt, Sara just looked at Kel with wide eyes.

"You know about the Yamani knight called The Kraken?"

"Yea."

"Well, that's me."

"I thought that the knight was a Tortallan woman."

"I am, this is just dye to make me look like I'm Yamani."

"If you're a knight then what are you doing here at an assassin school?"

"I'm doing a little spying."

"Cool, but how can you pretend to be an assassin?"

"Well, I'm also an assassin."

"I'm confused."

"See, not only are Yamani knights, knights, they are also the Emperor's assassins and spies. So while we're still here, I'm The Star or Earo. Until I'm able to get the information that I came for I won't be able to get you both out of here, but I promise that I won't train you in the harsh methods they expect. Occasionally I may yell or pretend to hurt you, but only when they're watching because it's what they expect. In fact do either of you planning on becoming a knight or joining the Own or Rider's? Because if you do I can go ahead and train you in the some of the necessary skills and all of your time wouldn't be wasted here."

"I want to be a Lady Knight, but my pa said that it's not proper for an ambassador's daughter to go around clashing pieces of steel together," Sara said, "he says that I have to go to the convent next year."

"My parent's are ambassadors and I'm a knight as well as an assassin and a spy, so that's no excuse. We'll start your training so you can be ahead of the boys next year when you start your training next year, now what about you Curt?"

"Wait a minute, if you're The Star, that means you killed Joren," Curt said with a gulp.

"Yes Curt, I killed Joren. We thought that he had murdered Henrik and the Emperor ordered me to. I am an assassin after all, it's my job. Killing is something that I take seriously. I do not go around killing innocent people just because I feel like it."

"But Joren, didn't really kill Henrik," Curt protested.

"You're right he didn't, but he did kill his brother Jenrish. He did it just because I beat him in a tournament. Someone who kills just because they lost is very dangerous. And besides killing Jenrish, there are many other bad things that he's done."

"Why didn't you wait for him to be punished by Tortall's justice system?"

"Because I was filled with grief. They were also taking a long time to find out who had killed Jenrish. I was also under orders from the Emperor. I kill people in order to protect others. Some people are very dangerous and will go around harming many innocent bystanders if they are not dealt with. That's the reason why I kill. I kill to protect others. Those who are unable to protect themselves. Killing is not something that I do for fun, which is the way that it should be handled. Do you understand Curt?"

"Kind of, I guess I'll have to ponder it."

"All right then let's go and make a Lady Knight out of your sister. You know you still haven't told me what you want to do."

"He wants to be a court lady!" pipped Sara, "He figures that if ladies can be knights then boys should be able to attend the convent."

"I do not!" protested Curt, "I want to be a great battle mage! But unfortuantly I don't have any magical skills so I have decided to become a member of the Own."

"You only did that because pa sent Thomas to become a knight and he doesn't have enough money to pay for more than one of us to become a knight. I'm sure that's more of the reason why I have to go to the convent. It wouldn't be fair for him to let me become a knight and for you to not have the chance and so instead of armor I get a wardrobe of dresses," revealed Sara.

"Well then if money's the only issue keeping the two of you from become knights then I guess we'll have to fix that, now won't we. It's almost dinner time so we better hurry over to the dinning hall so the two of you can eat. Just remember, I'm either Earo or The Star."

* * *

"Hurry up George!" Alanna called out to her husband.

"I'm coming, I just had to deal with a couple of last minute things," he said rushing up to take the reins of his horse from the stable boy.

"Finally, let's go," she said spurring her mount towards the gates.

"Wait!" called out a voice.

Alanna and George turned to see Henrik trotting up on his mount.

"Not another threat letter!" George said.

"No, I'm coming with you," he stated.

"What?" Alanna exclaimed, "I thought you had to stay and guard the princess."

"The Rider's are going to take care of that while I'm gone, which shouldn't be long. I figured that I could help since I know exactly what path Kel took."

"Well, then if that's the case then lead on Sir Henrik," George ordered.

* * *

"Where's the map at Neal?" Aly asked as they made camp that night.

"Here it is," he said as he spread it out across a large rock.

After studying the map for several minutes, Aly finally spoke, "I bet she's going to Collensburg."

"I think you're right," Neal agreed.

"You know we could cut through Vulture Canyon and save ourselves several days," she said slyly.

"Vulture Canyon! You must be crazy Aly! You know the stories of that place. Hardly anyone who goes on there comes out alive!" he said looking at her like she was out of her mind.

"Come on Neal it's not that bad. You'll see."

"I refuse to go that way," he replied shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fine, Kel and I will meet you on our way back. I'll be leaving very early tomorrow morning, so I probably won't see you until then, goodnight," she informed him as she curled up into her sleeping bag and fell fast asleep.

"Why did I bring that child with me?" Neal grumbled to himself as he stood watch over the fire, knowing well enough that tomorrow he would be following her into Vulture Canyon.

**So what did you all think? Hope you enjoyed it. A lot should begin to happen now. So let me know your take on all of this and review!**


	7. Anger, Sadness, and Fear

Neal woke before the sun was up the next morning, only to find Aly had packed the saddle bags and saddled the horses

Neal woke before the sun was up the next morning, only to find Aly had already packed the saddle bags and saddled the horses. Neal didn't try to hide the frustration and embarrassment that showed on his face. _That girl knew I was coming with her! That sly child, is to smart for her own good, _he thought. His frustration wasn't helped any when she cheerfully snuck up on him making him jump ten feet into the air.

"Come on Neal," she cheerfully said swinging up into her horse's saddle, "we're wasting daylight."

"There isn't even any daylight to waste," he mumbled, "I think I prefer her mother's grouchiness in the morning than this over powering cheerfulness."

"What Neal?" she questioned turning around in her saddle.

"Nothing," he said plastering a fake smile on his face. He couldn't believe that he was taking orders from a thirteen year old. It was unheard of!

They turned of the main road onto a well used side one. They soon came to a small village.

"We better replenish our supplies before we go through the canyon," Neal suggested.

"Yes, but both of us can't go through there," she replied in a very matter of fact manner.

"Why not?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"Because if my ma and pa are looking for us, which I'm sure they are, we don't want them to know we came this way, if we want to find Kel before they find us. So I am going to enter the village from the other side to help prevent suspicion and I'm going to disguise myself as a messenger from Dilery, I'll meet you back on the other side when I'm done. What's wrong Neal?" she asked in response to his screwed up face.

"First of all, why do you get to into the village? I am older after all. Secondly, most people still use boys as messengers. Thirdly what are you going to do when they start asking for the normal gossip? Finally, what about an accent?" he challenged.

"Well, I am the one who wants to be a spy after all. That's why I get to go through the village. And besides it was my idea. Secondly, I can disguise myself as a boy, it's not very hard. Once again I'm a spy, I know the gossip. Finally, it ain't tha' 'ard ta da an accent. Any more questions? No? Good. Let's go," she said spurring her horse ahead of his.

* * *

"Turn here," Henrik directed as they came to the intersection leading to Tusaine, "Now we just follow this road to Collensburg. Hopefully we should catch up with Neal and Aly before we reach there, if not then we'll deal with it when the time comes."

With a nod of her head, Alanna spurred her mount into a gallop hoping to see the two children over the top of the hill, unfortunately they weren't there. A tear ran down the side of her face. She quickly wiped it away to prevent George or Henrik from seeing it.

* * *

"Earo?" questioned a voice.

Kel turned from where she stood in the classroom to face the doorway and a young girl of about ten dressed in all black.

"Yes?" Kel responded.

"The presence of you and your students is required on the training courts.'

"Of course. Come Sara. Come Curt. Grab your knives, it's time we go to the court," Kel said leaving the room following the girl, "What's your name."

"Abby. Call name The Eradicator," she replied in a robotic like manner.

"You can't be older than ten and you already have a call name, I'm impressed," Kel said, hiding her horror that such a young child, who should just be begining her training was either complete or near the end.

"I was born here. Grew up this way. It's all I've ever known. Makes sense if you think about it."

"Yea," Kel responded, _a lot of sense. They are able to get another eight years out of you and no one would ever expect a child. If they trained enough of you, Tusaine could probably destroy anyone they wanted. I guess I'll just have to make sure that it doesn't happen, _"Who's your parents?"

"My mother's The Enchanter, I have no idea who my father is."

_She obviously inherited her looks from her father and not her mother. Most likely Yamani, _observed Kel as they walked onto the practice courts.

"Here they are mother," Abby informed as they walked onto the court.

"Thank you darling, now we just have to wait for Fernando and Marcus to arrive and then we can begin," Marcy said with a tinge of sarcasm.

While they waited Kel looked around the practice court sizing up everyone. As well as everyone she had been introduced to the previous day, minus Tez, Fernando, and Marcus, there were several new faces, all of them belonging to children. Most of the children were in their teens. A few of them where as young as ten. Kel was soon interrupted from her observation as Marcy icily said, "Here they are, let the fun and games begin."

With a whimper, Sara looked into Kel's eyes begging her to protect her from whatever was about to happen.

**Sorry the chapter is a little shorter than usual, but it couldn't be helped. The next one should be a little longer to make up for it. Anyways, tell me what you think in a review, even if it's just one line!!**


	8. The Game

With an evil smile on his face Fernando stepped to the center of the arena to face Kel and the two children. Marcus stood one step behind him with an equally chilling smile on his face, peering over Fernando's right shoulder.

"Here's what's going to happen. We are going to have our weekly war game. With chalk marked knives and other various weapons, you and your trainees are going to have to destroy the other groups. Winners get special privileges for the week and losers get, well let's just say they get to spend a night in the Chamber and I'm not talking the kind people enter as squires and exit as knights, no it's much…well you better hope you never have to find out what it's like. Best piece of advice don't get killed, figuratively of course. Hand out the weapons Marcus and take everyone to their assigned place, when you hear the bell ring the games have begun! And remember children, play fairly and if you can't…..well then I guess you'll just have to forget it."

After handing the other groups various weapons and leading them away, he came to Kel and the children, who was the last remaining group on the courts. All he handed them were three various sized daggers and then left them to ring the bell, before Kel was able to protest. She quickly scanned the area, realizing the danger of their position, anyone with bows or crossbows, and she knew that some had been handed out, could easily take them down. She quickly handed each of the children a knife and ordered them to follow her into the woods. They soon came to the shed where she had first met Sara and Curt, nearby was a well protected clearing, with only one easy path into it. Kel quickly showed the children how to hold the daggers and a few moves, which she had them repeat several times before they stood in a circle back to back of one another and waited for the first person to come their way. Kel fervently prayed that Sakuyo would help them get out of this alive and if any of them had to spend a night in the Chamber, it would be her and not the children. She knew she could handle it, but was terrified at what it may do to them. They didn't have to wait long before several people came into the clearing and formed a circle around them.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here," asked Marcy as she stepped from the circle towards Kel, "It seems as if we've trapped The Star and his little trainees. I say we test him, Mark!"

"Yes ma'am?" asked a teenage boy as he step from the circle, in his hands he held a spear.

"Attack!"

Without a word he closed in on Kel and was surprised when she maneuvered herself so that she ducked under the spear as he thrust it at her and marked his throat with a swipe of her blade.

"Lina! Carry!" Marcy yelled out as two girls stepped forward swinging swords.

Kel soon surprised them as well, when she took Sara's short blade away from her in one hand and held her longer dagger in the other and brought them up in a cross as the larger of the two swung her sword at Kel attempting to slice her head open. Kel silently slide the smaller blade down the blade's length and marked the girl on the throat as well, before using the longer blade to hit the other girl hard in her sword arm, before smacking the blade against her throat. Kel quickly handed the larger blade to Sara and gave Curt the smaller one as she picked up both swords. She would have used the spear as a glaive, but didn't in fear that it may give her true identity away. Even though Yamani knights knew how to use them it wasn't their choice of weapon and something they used as a last resort. Kel kept it near her just in case.

This time three children, as well as The Tempest, came upon her. Two children held staffs, while the other had a whip; The Tempest carried several whips as well as several throwing stars. Kel's face hardened as the two with staffs began to try and beat upon her. She used one sword to disarm one of them and was working on the other when suddenly The Tempest threw several stars in her and the children's direction as the child with the whip attempted to circle Kel and move towards Sara and Curt. Suddenly flames leapt into her eyes as she knocked the staff out of the boy's arms, blocked all of the throwing stars except for one that went of course with the other blade and used her leg to kick the girl's knees in causing her to fall to the ground allowing Kel to mark her then the boy before The Tempest came upon her.

Kel dropped one sword and gathered up the whip that lay upon the ground, she quickly used it to twirl around the neck of another child holding a spear, before letting it go. She swept the other sword up as she fought off The Tempest's whips. She cut down several of the whips as she fought another opponent, The Damned, who was using a large battle axe, with her other sword. She cut down The Tempest, just in time to fend off another child as he attempted to throw a spear at her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw several archers up in the trees, one of them being The Piercer. She swooped down, relieving The Damned of his axe and marking him as she swept up several throwing stars, which she then sent flying in the directions of the archers hitting them all.

Suddenly a large sword came rushing down upon her and she rolled away just in time for it to slash open the earth causing a cloud of dust to come up and allow Kel the necessary cover to get up and slice down The Tiger who was in possession of the sword.

Suddenly she heard a high pitch scream behind her coming from Sara. She quickly spun on her foot to see The Mysterious and The Silent as well as four more children advancing on them. Without a thought for herself Kel jumped in front of the children as she sent on last shooting star and removed one of the children. She quickly brought one sword up to block The Mysterious' sword, which came from above as well as blocking The Silent's sword which came up from below her. She quickly switched the positioning of her swords to block two of the children's swords, as well as taking out the third one. Two of her attackers swung their swords directly at her head. Kel quickly went down in a squat and hit The Silent's leg so hard with the flat of her blade that she her bone crack. The swords soon swung at her legs causing her to jump up and kick the two children in their windpipes and fall to the ground before she hit The Mysterious with her blade in his neck. She finished off The Silent, as The Dagger came upon her with two of his trainees.

Kel lay down her swords and picked up the whips that lay upon the ground. With a crack she sent them flying out towards the unsuspecting group and soon had them all lying on the ground. She dropped the whips and quickly picked up the swords, turning to face The Enchanter and The Eradicator, the only two left standing.

With an icy smile on her face Marcy spoke, "Well, my darling, I guess it is up to us to finish this piece of trash and his weaklings off."

Both picked up fallen swords off of the ground, so that they held two in each hand just like Kel. For a moment all was silent and neither side moved. Then as suddenly as the silence had come on Marcy and Abby ran towards Kel as Kel ran towards them. They soon clashed in a ringing of blades hitting one another. Marcy and Abby moved the swords very quickly causing Kel to pick up her pace. They continued on in this manner for several minutes. Kel's arms soon became very heavy feeling as if they 

were made of lead. She heard a snicker from Marcy as she began to slow. Suddenly the anger that had been bottling up in her, her eyes became full of burning anger and with a last burst of speed and strength she knocked all four swords out of their hands and then knocked them hard to the ground gasping for breath.

Kel looked around the circle making sure she had fallen all of her opponents, everyone lay on the ground too injured to move, many of them gasping for breath. She gathered up all of the weapons and between her and the children they carried them out of the clearing and back to their living quarters. Sara and Curt looked at her with awe.

* * *

Fernando lowered the seeing scope from his eye and turned to face Marcus who was scribbling notes on a pad of paper. He soon stopped his scribbling and looked at Fernando in the eyes.

"It seems as if we have finally found someone who will be able to go and bring that wretched Yamani knight, Keladry of Midelan, The Kraken, back to us so we can revenge the loss of Jenrish."

"Quite right Sir, his fighting style is quite amazing. It also goes to prove that Yamani's have this deep in their blood. Everyone from The Yamani Islands that we've had has always been our best. I mean even Abby takes after her father."

"Quite right Marcus, quite right. Anyways we'll talk with him after dinner tonight. You better get a healer down there. It seems as if he injured them very severely."

"Yes, Sir, right away," Marcus replied before heading down the path and back towards the school. Fernando didn't move, but stared into the distance thinking over the day's events.

**Hope you enjoyed the fighting scene! Let me know if you thin it was well written! Thanks!**


	9. The Village

Aly rode Neal's mare, whom they had dusted down to change her appearance, into the small village

Aly rode Neal's mare, whom they had dusted down to change her appearance, into the small village. She suddenly stopped the mare when she noticed the unnerving silence. She adverted her eyes looking everywhere throughout the village, searching for some form of life. There were no dogs barking. No children playing. Nothing. She set Neal's mare into a slow and cautious walk. She glanced into the windows of the buildings, but saw nothing.

Aly stopped the mare in front of the tavern. She slid out of the saddle and let the reins lie on the ground in case she needed a quick escape. As she climbed the steps leading to the building, she winced when the second one squeaked. After tiptoeing across the platform she stopped in front of the door taking a deep breath before pushing it open, just enough to slip inside. She stood there for several seconds, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. She saw a strange pool of liquid on the counter. She walked towards it and gingerly placed a finger in it. It felt strangely familiar for some reason; it was warm, sticky, and smelled a little like….blood!

Aly suddenly became extremely alert of her surroundings and noticed a man lying behind the counter, freshly dead, She spun around to leave, thinking, _They're still here! I must return to Neal and warn him!_ Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she placed a hand on the doorknob and felt a blunt object hit her on the head. Everything went dark.

**Note: I know it is short (Don't complain) and yes I know it is a cliffy (Once again don't complain). I was disappointed with the lack of reviews, thus the long absence as well as the shortness and cliffy. So if you want to find out what happens review!**


	10. Triple Trouble

Neal paced back and forth through his campsite worrying about Aly. She had ridden into the village yesterday and still had not returned. He hadn't started to worry, well extremely worry (he always worried about the girl and the trouble she would cause him), about her until noon today since she may have spent the night in the village and it took about half a day to go around the village to where he was camped. It was now midafternoon and Neal was going crazy with worry. Deciding to ignore Aly's instructions to stay put, he gathered his things and headed towards the village on Aly's mare.

He gasped in surprise at the sight that awaited him. It was a ghost town and Aly was clearly nowhere in the village, instead, her mother, her father, and Henrik were there. In fear of his life he attempted to quietly turn the mare and leave, but he was soon spotted by Alanna who rode up demanding to know where her daughter was. Her demands made him lean away from her causing him to fall off of the horse and into the dirt below.

Looking up at her, he attempted a smile and said, "I'm not sure Milady."

"You're not sure!" she exploded, "You allowed my daughter to come with you on your insane attempt to rescue Kel, who I might add does not need rescuing, and you're not sure where my daughter is! Is that what you're saying!"

"Y-y-yes, Milady," he replied.

"That was a rhetorical question Neal! You do not answer rhetorical questions! And do not call me Milady! You are only making matters worse for yourself!"

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" he said in attempt to change the subject.

"Do you hear him George? He's asking us what we are doing here. We're looking for you and Aly," she said in a tone as if he didn't know, "You stay here, while I go and discuss with my husband and Henrik what we are going to do with you. And don't say anything else or I might do something that I regret later."

Neal sat there on the ground and waited as a long argument began over him.

Aly woke up. Her head felt as if there were a million nails being pounded into it. She felt extremely groggy and could barely make sense of the strange scratchy sensation over her head and around her ankles and wrists. As her head began to clear up she realized that it was ropes that bound her ankles and wrists and a burlap sack over her head. She also became aware on the bed of soggy leaves she was lying on.

* * *

She attempted to prop herself up using her elbows, but the leaves were too slippery and she only succeed in covering her elbows with slimy mud. She also heard a sudden movement to her left before she felt a prick on her arm and the grogginess take over her mind once more before sending her into a deep sleep.

* * *

"You wanted to see me sir?" Kel questioned Fernando as she stepped into his office.

"Yes, Earo. I did. Would you please sit down?" he replied motioning to a chair on the side of the desk closest to her.

Not trusting anyone Kel remained standing though she ushered the two children into the room and had them stand behind her as she closed the door and faced herself so she could see both the door and Fernando.

"Ah. I see you don't trust us," Fernando observed a smile curling up his face, "Which is a good thing I might add. Now if we can get down to business I have a mission for you, that is if you choose to accept. We have this … enemy, a vile, vulgar enemy in Tortall, whom we need eliminated, which is what we wish for you to do. This person is the cause of murder of one of our own, a young man named Jenrish, Yamani if I might add. His call name, The Baffled. The origin of his name is a long story and we do not have time for it at the moment. We need you to eliminate a Yamani knight by the name of Keladry of Midelan, otherwise known as The Kraken. Bring me her heart and I'll give you wealth that you can't imagine."

"You expect me to do you a favor and remove one of your arch enemies after that exhibit yesterday?" Kel demanded in a cool manner.

"Yes. You see it was a set up, so I could see for myself the skills you posses and be absolutely sure that you could fulfill the mission. None of the assassins here have the necessary skills. I sent my best one after her six months ago and he ended up dead."

Kel's thoughts faded back to attack…

_It had been dark night and she had been unable to sleep, thus she decided to go for a midnight ride on Peachblossom. She was in the middle of The Royal Forest when she saw a flicker of movement coming from a tree. Suddenly a figure dropped onto Peachblossom's back, but she was no longer there. Instead she had swung out of the saddle and below his belly. When the imposter landed on Peachblossom she swung back into saddle, knocking the imposter out with her feet. She pulled out a knife and jumped out of the saddle landing on his chest; with one swift swipe she slit his throat. Before returning home she tore open his shirt and left her mark. She returned home telling no one of her plight. As far as she knew no one had found the body yet. If that was the best they could put up then they were not a real threat to Tortall or The Yamani Islands. _

"Of course," he continued, "There are other schools with better assassins and our best assassins are sent to the palace to become the king's private assassins, considering I no longer have any control over them, I can't send them on private missions for the school if they don't directly affect His Majesty and since a knight is not going to be able to get to him, she is no threat. That is the main reason why I brought you here, was to rid us of her and anyone else we may need to dispose of. Of course we can use your skills to better our assassins as well as gain a better position with the King. So my friend, will you accept?"

**Note: Sorry for the long wait. I just wanted to say a quick thanks to all the reviewers (I apologize if I didn't reply, but they were somehow deleted from my e-mail and I couldn't remember who I had replied to). To make up for the lateness I included everyone in the chapter instead of just having Neal meet up with Alanna, George, and Henrik.**


	11. Saving a Friend

Kel was sitting there contemplating over what she should do, when a loud knock emerged from the other side of the door.

"Come in!" barked Fernando.

Marcus peeked his head through the door and said, "The traders are here."

"If you'll excuse me, for a moment," Fernando informed Kel, "I have some business that needs to be dealt with right away. In fact you can come with me if you want and learn some of the finer points of how we run the school."

Kel nodded her head in response and followed him. Without his knowing he had just given her an opening to begin truly learning how the school was ran and begin the process of demolishing it, piece by piece. He led her outside to the courtyard where there were two men standing next to two noble looking mounts. One was a radiant black mare, the other a flawless white steed. Tied to the white horse was a dull, dusty looking, brown mare on to which a large lifeless lump was tied.

She switched her attention from the horses to the men whom were being greeted by Fernando and Marcus. The one man was tall and sported a neatly trimmed black beard. The other man was short and had an unkempt beard and ratty hair the color of sand.

"How many do you have for me today?" Fernando questioned.

"One," replied the taller gentleman as the shorter one pulled a blanket off of the large lump on the plain mare.

"Young boy, about ten maybe eleven, messenger, found him snooping around a plundered village. 5,000 crowns," the tall man informed Fernando as he pulled the young boy off the horse onto the ground. The boy was small and seemed to be passed out. His wrists and ankles were bound and a burlap sack was over his head. The smaller man pulled it off to reveal a face that seemed familiar to Kel. It looked a lot like…Alan, Alanna's son, but that wasn't possible, the child in front of her was too small and he was safely in the confines of the palace training to be a knight and he would never pretend to be a messenger, that meant it was…no it couldn't be, but the more she thought about it the more she realized it was true, Aly was the one really in front of her and if anything happened to her Alanna would personally ruin anyone involved in her daughter's demise.

"1,000," Fernando replied.

"4,000."

"2,000."

"3."

"2 and half."

"You have yourself a deal," replied the man, "another five hundred and we'll throw in the horse. It looks much better after it's had a bath."

"Marcus."

"Yes Sir?"

"Get these gentlemen 3,000 crowns and do the paperwork after you have someone take their mounts to the stable. I have some business to finish up; after I'm done we'll join you for the evening meal."

* * *

"I apologize about the interruption, but it's necessary to deal with the traders once they arrive, otherwise you may not get a fair price or they might leave. Anyways, where were we? Ah, yes. I had just asked you if you would terminate The Kraken for us. Well?"

"I'm not sure. I need to think it over."

"Fine, but let me know as soon as you decide."

"One last thing."

"Yes?"

"What'll happen to the boy?"

"Oh we just wait till he wakes up and then assign him to a group. Why?"

"Would you mind if I take him?"

"I don't know. I was thinking of assigning him to…"

"I'll go on the mission, though not right away if I can have the boy," she said cutting him of rather bluntly.

"All right, you can have him, but why such an interest in him?"

"I need a third child for training techniques I was taught back in The Islands. You can do with two, but three works best and since he's also from Tortall it makes it even better."

"Really? Hmmm, maybe I need to come and see this technique."

"I'm not sure about that."

"And why not? It is my school after all."

"It may be your school, but the papers I signed gave me free reign in the way I choose to train the students assigned to me. That means if I don't want you watching you don't watch. If you want to see what we are doing then you can ask me and I'll let you know when it would be all right for you to come and watch."

"Okay, okay, you don't have to be so huffy about it. Now back to business, when are you going to eliminate Keladry?"

"When I have the time. I'll let you know and you better not pester me about it, otherwise I won't," Kel said before shutting the door behind her and the children to go and retrieve Aly.

* * *

Neal sighed in relief as the trio finally headed his way. He had been waiting forever, it seemed, as they fought over what to do with him. The waiting made the knowledge of his soon to be death even worse and so he had prayed to the gods to quickly end his misery.

"You are coming with me," Henrik informed Neal.

"Great!" Neal replied with hopes that he might still be able to live and rescue Kel.

"To Corus," finished Henrik, thus causing Neal to lose his hope.

"What about the two of you?" Neal questioned directing his question at Alanna and George, "What are you going to do."

"We are going to follow the tracks leading away from here to Scanra and attempt to get Aly back before they cross the border and if they do cross, we'll follow them until we catch them and rescue her," Alanna replied.

"We better get going," George said as he untied his mount from a post and swung up into the saddle saying, "don't forget to report this when you get to Corus, Henrik."

"I won't," he replied as they sent their horses into a trot, towards the main road following the tracks belonging to the pillagers, but passing the three sets of tracks that snaked into the woods.

Once they reached the main road, they parted ways, Henrik and Neal headed back to Corus, while Alanna and George went towards Scanra.


	12. Caring for the Children

**I really shouldn't be updating since I haven't had very many reviews, but I am. Now ya'all better meet the terms listed below or you might not get another chapter. **

Kel walked into the large room she shared with Sara and Curt and placed Aly on her bed. She would need to have another put in here for her, but that could wait until later.

"Aly," she said gently shaking the girl, "Wake up, Aly."

"Wh-where am I?' questioned the young girl.

"Tusiane. You're at one of their training facilities for assassins."

"Oh. You seem rather familiar, but I can't quite place you. Who are you?"

"It's me Kel, I here posing as a Yamani assassin by the name of Earo, call name, The Star."

"But wait, Are you really The Star?" Aly questioned sitting up, "Because if you are that means you killed…"

"Yes Aly I killed Joren, but we can get into that later. I need to know why you're here."

"It's quite simple, Henrik got a letter from someone named The Stormwing, threatening to kill you. When Neal found out about it and the fact that no one was going to rescue you, he decided to do so himself. I wanted to prove myself to my parents, so I decided to go with him and keep him out of trouble and maybe do a little spying on the side."

"Well you should have listened to Henrik in the first place. Anyways now that you're here well have to deal with it. You'll have to pretend to be a boy since that's what they think you are. They also think you are a messenger so you'll have to keep that front up as well. I assuming you don't have a message so we'll need to make one up. Do you have an name you'd like to go by?"

"Ben Smith, that way I'll have a familiarity with weapons. As for the message I could just be taking the grain report to the palace, but it got lost, so I'm unsure of any numbers. Does that work?"

"Yes, yes that'll work. I'll need to get you some clothes. Oh and before I forget this is Curt and Sara, they're Dom's nephew and niece."

* * *

_Later that night..._

Neal waited until he was sure Henrik was asleep before getting out of his bedroll. He whispered a spell placing a deep sleep on Henrik from which he would awake when the sun was high in the sky. He rolled up his bedroll, saddled Aly's horse and set off toward Tusiane. He knew Aly would be safe, since her mother and father were searching for her, but he still needed to help Kel.

He was stifling a yawn as he rounded a corner and almost fell off the horse in surprise when he saw Henrik sitting on his horse obviously waiting for him.

"You just won't give up on it will you boy?" Henrik asked, "You leave me no choice, but I guess I'm going to have to use the magic shakles."

"B-but, I put a spell on…" protested Neal.

"Yes, you did, but that wasn't really me. I had a feeling that you would try something like this so I made you think I was there and came to wait for you."

"When you'd do the change?"

"When I went to water some trees."

"Oh," Neal replied as Henrik place the shackles on his wrists.

"Well then I quess we had better be on our way."

**Note: I know the chapter is short, but it is necessary since the next events will take place in several days, but I make you all a deal, after I get six reviews instead of the normal ten (which I _didn't_ get last chapter), I'll update. 1 review for every hundred words. I will also be including facts that no one except the reviewers will find out in my replies. So to find out these little known facts join The Reviewers Club!**

**A/N: One last thing, anyone who reviews can ask me any question they wish about the story and I will answer it. It can be anything such as what Kel was wearing or whether or not Neal's been eating his vegetables. I just caution you to think about what you ask before you do so, because if you ask something critical to the story line you might not want to find out about it yet.**


	13. The Eradicator's Story

_Several days later…_

"Henrik! Back so soon? I see you found Neal, but where's Alanna and George and Aly?" questioned the queen.

"I'll explain it once we join Jon and Gary so I only have to explain it once. "

* * *

_In the king's meeting room…_

"A small village near the Tusaine border was destroyed and it seems as if Aly was taken by those who did so. Alanna and George are following the tracks, which led towards Scanra. They're hoping to catch up with the group before they cross the border, but they will cross it if they need to in order to save Aly and anyone else who was captured by them," informed the group.

"We better send some back up, though I don't know how much good it will do," Jon said after he had finished, "Raoul is due back…"

"I'm back," Raoul said as he burst through the door.

"Good, I need you to take a company and head towards Scanra to help Alanna and George rescue Aly and some villagers."

"The one time I'm here and there isn't a ball or party, I'm sent to another country," mumbled Raoul.

"What was that?" questioned George.

"I said yes Your Majesty," was Raoul's sarcastic reply.

"Good, leave as soon as you can. Any word on Dom's niece and nephew?"

"None. We can't find anything. Whoever took them covered their tracks very well."

"That's too bad. I met them once, they were good kids."

"Jon?"

"Yes Gary?"

"What about that friendly competition coming up with Galla? Alanna's supposed to fight their Champion."

"Mithros! I forgot all about that!"

"And if she doesn't show it's going to cause a lot of embarrassment for us."

"Raoul, I changed my mind, you are no longer to leave when you're ready, you should have left…"

"…Yesterday," finished Raoul as he got up to leave, "I'm going, I'm going."

* * *

"So tell me," Kel questioned Abby, "How'd you get a name like The Eradicator?"

"Well I was on a mission with my ma you see and we got into this fight…..

"_Why won't you tell me who my pa is?" Abby screamed at her mother through clenched teeth as they sat around their campfire waiting for the right time to make their hit._

"_Because, I don't have to Abby, that's why," came the firm reply from her mother, The Enchanter._

"_That's no good reason!" she retorted._

"_It is if I say it is and I say it is, so no more bothering me over it!"_

_Abby turned her back to the campfire and sat their fuming, arms across her chest as she waited until she would be able to vent her anger by making the hit they had been assigned. Having nothing better to do, since once again she wasn't able to get her mother to tell her anything about her father, she reviewed the instructions given to them when they accepted the mission._

_They were sent to murder a duke of Galla who had been causing the king some trouble, but he didn't consider bothersome enough yet to send out one of his personal assassins, so he had sent orders to The Stormwing to send one of his since his school was the closest. His only orders were to murder the duke and his family. They could do whatever they wanted with the household and could keep any valuables they wished as their payment. _

_So he had sent The Enchanter and her young daughter, who was eight, on the mission._

"_Abby," whispered her mother, "It's time to go."_

_Abby slowly turned around and glaring at her mother soundlessly followed her into the darkness._

_Once in the 'castle' if you could call the pitiful building with its stone wall, which was barely standing that, they split up. Abby went to find the duke and his wife, while her mother went in search of the children to see if any were suitable for training and to kill those who weren't. She slipped into the duke's room, which he and his wife happened to be sharing that night. She quickly slit their throats and was about to leave through the door, when she glanced back at the sight of the two dead nobles. Her anger flared up once again as she saw the happiness and peacefulness on their face even though they were dead. Happiness that her ma would probably never share with her pa ever again and the peace of knowing that their children were safe in their rooms down the hall._

_She knew that her ma never felt that way about her and her pa certainly never had those feelings for her; if he even knew she existed. Instead of leaving through the door she quietly stomped back to the two dead lovers and pulled their blanket off of them. She then pulled out her knife and sliced each of their chests open, gorging out their organs and spreading them about the room, which is what her mother found her doing when she came in. _

"_What are you doing?" her mother questioned._

"_I'm destroying their happiness and peace so that even in death they can't enjoy it," she explained as if she were saying she was picking daisies to weave into a ring for her head._

"_Stop being such eradicator and come and help me with the valuables," her mother chastised._

"I helped her carry the valuables to the horses and tie their youngest son to one of the horses and well

the name stuck," she finished with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Who's the duke's son?" Kel questioned with interest.

"Mark, he was the first one to attack during The Game."

"I see," replied Kel.

* * *

**Author's Note: I apologize for the long absence, but I was extremely absorbed in writing my original fic and was busy doing other stuff and then my thumb drive died and I lost a lot of it and became real upset over that and was unable to write for a while. I still haven't been able to rewrite any of it, but I have decided to start working on this again, which of course if good news! So please, please, please review to help cheer me up!**


	14. Meeting up with The Own

**A/N: Hey everyone, I'm finally back. I'm not going to bother making any excuses for my absence, but I do want to touch on a topic, which has come up quite a few times in reviews. Many people wonder why Kel's name is The Kraken and not The Rose or something else of that nature. The reason I named Kel The Kraken has to do with the books. If you go and look in Squire Tamora talks about how war is considered The Kraken, since it is deadly and terrifying. That's what I want Kel to be in these stories. Many people have suggested that I name her The Rose instead since they are both beautiful and sharp, but a rose still doesn't encompass what I want and besides it would fit someone better who uses romance against there enemies, by making them fall in love with them before they kill them and that's just not Kel's fighting style. Besides Kel is no beauty queen, we can see that from the nicknames the local villagers call her and how her sisters talk about her before she even considers becoming a knight. Hope that clears things up! And now onto the story. **

**P.S. Don't forget to review!!!**

Alanna knelt on the ground and picked up a small doll with black hair and a torn pink dress. Tears formed in her eyes as she remembered how her daughter didn't play with dolls like other girls and how she preferred her father's way of life, from his code books to sneaking around the Swoop playing pranks on the maids. It saddened her that Aly was not like the other girls, for if Aly had been like the other girls life would be so much easier. Unfortunately, she was like her father, a spy at heart, but being a spy was perilous work. It was dangerous and you were unable to trust anyone. She wouldn't mind so much except that Aly was also like her in the fact that she was not content to go to the convent and become a rich, fat Lord's wife. No Aly was like Alanna determined to follow her dreams, but Alanna couldn't let her. It was hard enough with George being a spy. She just wished that Aly had picked a dream, which was easier for her to understand, anything but being a spy. Because if Aly didn't have that dream then they would not be where they were now. Of course if Alanna hadn't been so persistent in Aly choosing a different dreaming, but instead nurtured Aly's dream they probably wouldn't be here either.

"What's wrong love?" George gently questioned as he knelt down near her and brushed away her tears.

"This is all my fault George! If I hadn't been so stubborn, this never would have happened!"

"No it's not Alanna. Look at me, don't blame yourself for this, even if you weren't stubborn Aly probably still would have done this because that is what makes a good spy, being willing to go somewhere in order to ferret out information and that's what she did. I wouldn't be surprised if she was collecting information right now about her captors."

"I know George, It's just so hard."

"I know," he softly replied before pulling her into his arms, "I know."

* * *

Alanna and George had not traveled very far when they stopped and set up camp. It was midday when they did so, but they were close to the Scanra border and they had decided it would be safest to cross it in the cover of darkness. Alanna was sleeping while George sat watch when suddenly he heard several horses coming their way. He quickly turned to wake Alanna, but she was already scrambling to her feet reaching for her blade. George pulled out his daggers and they hid behind the trees, waiting whoever approached.

George let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was Raoul and the Own. He made his way to the road and called out to Raoul. Raoul quickly stopped his horse and let a huge grin break out on his face when he saw both Alanna and George.

"What are you doing, here Raoul?" Alanna questioned.

"Jonathan sent me to help and to make sure you were home in time for the Gallan's challenge."

Alanna promptly swore as she remembered the fight

"How did you get here so fast Raoul?" George asked.

"It wasn't too hard. Henrik was able to guess where you would cross the border and we were able to follow some quicker roads up here. Lucky for us he was right. So what's the plan?"

"We were planning on waiting for night, but I think we need to rethink this now that you're here. It won't do any good if Scanra decides to declare a war because he finds the Commander of the Own and a third of the Own wandering around their backyard, now would it?"

"Actually it's only a fourth, I left some of my men in Corus and besides I already have a plan if you'd be interested."

Raoul soon explained his plan and George and Alanna quickly agreed.


	15. Disguises

Raoul's plan consisted of the group posing as a group of traders from Galla – more specifically slave traders. This would allow the group to move through Scanra unquestioned. Several members of the Own would pose as recently purchased slaves, while Raoul and George would pose as the group's leaders. Alanna would have to discard her britches for a dress and would play Raoul's wife. When Alanna had questioned Raoul as to where they would get the supplies necessary to pose as such a group, he just laughed and told her that what slave traders carried what not so different from what the Own needed and besides he had brought the only thing, which really did differ, slave collars.

"What about a wagon? And what are you going to do with everything which has the Own's symbol on it? And how about you Raoul, you are pretty recognizable." She protested.

"I have a wagon hidden nearby here for missions such as this and with that wagon is unmarked weapons and all the supplies we need. As for my appearance I have some dyes, which Henrik gave me before I left. Besides, you shouldn't be one to talk about being easily recognizable; I mean how many women are there with violet eyes and flaming red hair?"

She just glared at him.

"I'm just joking Alanna."

"I know. You plan is well thought out and it should work. It would be much easier if we can just buy the villagers back instead of fighting, though I swear if they have laid one hand on Aly I will personally see that they live a very long and painful death."

"Of course you will dear, but you will have to wait until after you beat Galla's Champion," George replied, "So where is this wagon of yours?"

* * *

Raoul led his men, as well as, Alanna and George to a secluded spot nearby where he had the promised supplies. Raoul's men quickly split into two groups and changed into appropriate clothing. Those who were to pose as slaves, put on both the clothing of peasants and slave collars. The others changed from their armor and clothing, which signified them as part of the Own, into the type of finery worn by slave traders. They also strapped on various weapons.

Alanna, George, and Raoul changed not only their clothing, but also their appearance. This was nothing new to George since he did it often in his job, but Raoul and Alanna were have quite a bit of difficulty. The clothing George and Raoul wore were much finer and of better quality than those worn by the Own, which were posing as slave traders, since they were the leaders of the group. Raoul had also dyed not only his hair, but also his skin. George was in charge of covering Raoul in dye and when he asked him to remove all of the clothing he had just put on, Raoul threw a fit, stating that it had just taken him an hour to put it all on.

"Raoul you will do as I say or stay behind. It for some reason you need to take your shirt of in front of company what will they think if all of a sudden your skin changed colour?"

That caused Raoul to do as he was told, though he still pouted.

While George was transforming Raoul's appearance, Alanna was left on her own. She had dyed her hair black, so that it looked like the night sky and then put on a dress that would be practical for travel and showing off her womanly figure, yet it helped to disguise some of her large muscles.

George let out a huge sigh when she walked over to him and Raoul, who was still naked.

"Alanna!" Raoul protested, "Couldn't you have waited until we were done?"

"Get over it Raoul, I've seen you without any clothes plenty of times."

"Yes, but that was when I was a boy and I thought you were one too!"

"What's wrong George?" she asked turning her attention away from Raoul.

"Your posture, your walk, your attitude."

"What's wrong with all of it? I thought you liked me that way."

"I do, but you do not look like a woman the way you carry yourself."

"Oh? Then what does that make me? A baboon?"

"Of course not Alanna, but you know what I mean. If someone sees you walking and acting like that, they're not going to believe our scheme."

"You know I can't be graceful like the court ladies, George."

"I'm not asking you to be graceful like them. I want you to walk and act like the servants or the woman you see in Corus selling goods. Think of how they walk, how they hold themselves, and how they act, and you'll do fine."

Alanna's only reply was stomping away, causing Raoul to laugh.

George shot him a look and said, "Well you're not much better."

* * *

**A/N: So what do you think? Review and let me know! (I was a little hurt by the lack of reviews for the last chapter. I had 95 visitors, but only 2 reviews! So please review!)**


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